Resentment and Civility in Internet Marketing

Copyright © 2005 by Willie Crawford

Have you noticed how rude, obnoxious, negative, and downright uncivil people can be in cyberspace?

Visit any busy Internet marketing discussion board and you’ll often find dozens of such people who seem to thrive on being as mean-spirited and negative as possible.

If you get any volume of email you’re bound to sometimes get emails saying things that people are VERY unlikely to say to you in person.

It’s as if being behind the computer screen and communicating via long distance changes the rules of how we have all been taught to politely interact with each other.

Why are some people like this, and what is the ultimate consequence? Let’s examine this behavior and look at just a few specific examples.

Let’s begin with the person who deliberately posts the most negative or mean-spirited things they can on discussion forums. Sometimes these people are doing what is called “trolling.” Just as a fisherman trolls for fish, hoping that as his bait floats by the fish will find it irresistible, the discussion board troll dangles very contemptuous comments in front of those on the forum – hoping that some can’t resist responding. He is hoping to start a heated discussion that will draw attention to him, and perhaps his site, product, or cause.

Discussion board trolling works for some people. It builds them an audience of others who thrive on controversy. However, discussion board trolling also drives away a lot of potential customers. It drives away those who are turned-off by all of the negativity… and make a mental note to NEVER do business with the troll.

The discussion board troll understands that man is an emotional creature. He is more likely to take action if you can get him riled up. He understands the art of “polarizing.” He understands that people are often more likely to do business with people who touch them on a very deep emotional level… even if it’s negative.

Even off of discussion boards, some copywriters masterfully harness the power of this same psychological trick. One of the most brilliant examples of it that I’ve seen recently is by a guy who has actually branded himself as “The Rich Jerk.” You can see how he does this on his website at: http://WhyJerksWin.com If you look very closely at that site, you’ll see what this guy is doing and its effect. It works beautifully and that’s why I point it out to you!

Many people who post only negative posts on discussion boards don’t seem to understand how energy works. They don’t seem to understand that man is an electromagnetic creature who senses and responds to positive and negative vibrations. We all understand that many impulses travel through our bodies via electricity, and that we even need to keep our electrolytes in balance. We even notice how just talking to some people makes the hair on the
back of our neck stand up. This happens partly because of electrical vibrations we are picking up on.

I don’t want to get too deep into explaining how we pick up on other’s vibes. However, most of us do perceive and respond on a subconscious level to the vibrations others are putting out. We often can’t “put our finger on” exactly what it is about a person that makes us NOT want to deal with them, but we just know that we don’t. Those who do understand this scientific
process, simply avoid trolls and very negative people on discussion forums.

If you’d like a deeper understanding of how the process I just explained works, I’ll point you to a very good course by Dr. Robert Anthony, called “Know How To Be Rich.” He basically explains how we attract both good and bad things into our lives. He explains how to attract positive things and how NOT to attract negative things into your life. You can find Dr. Anthony’s course at http://TheInternetLifestyle.com

Let’s look briefly at those who only make negative comments on discussion forums. Often these negative comments are attacking some so-called “guru.”

On a few discussion forums, people are allowed to say anything that they want… in the name of “free speech.” On other discussion forums personal attacks on others or other’s products are not tolerated.

I am a moderator at a number of Internet marketing discussion forums. On these forums I get to enforce “the rules.” On all of the discussion forums I moderate you are NOT free to make “any” comment that you want. The reason is very simple… it’s common courtesy and
understanding proper business etiquette.

First of all, posting to a discussion forum has NOTHING to do with free speech. The discussion board is owned by someone, and they will generally operate their forum in a manner that benefits their business and the businesses of those who use the forum regularly. They
operate their forum in a manner that sticks to the purpose of the forum!

One fact that needs to be acknowledged is that search engines often index discussion forum posts. Once these posts are indexed and stored in the search engines, they can stay in the databases for YEARS. So if someone makes a negative, and unsubstantiated, post about someone, there really is NO way of undoing it. Even if the poster apologizes, that negative post will remain in the database forever… continuing to harm that person’s business.

Many who choose to attack “gurus” may have very good reason. One of the best reasons I can readily see is that some perceived experts mislead their followers from time to time. For example, they give them the impression that building an online business is easier than it really is.

The fact is that it usually takes hard work and persistence. This is often not what most people want to hear, so the experts elude to the fact that it’s very easy. It can be easy, but it’s NOT for most people.

So the gurus who convince people that it’s too easy, because that’s what those people want to hear, often irritate a lot of people… people who feel angry that they can’t do something that’s obviously “so EASY.” Those very angry people then set out to disparage the experts
in any way the can.

Instead of attacking the experts because they didn’t tell you exactly how they are doing things, it would really be more productive to spend time figuring out what they are actually doing, or even asking them how they really operate their businesses. Be warned though that many who have built very successful online businesses can’t really tell you all of the factors that
contributed to their success. They often do things that they simply don’t notice. They have habits that they give little or no conscious thought to!

Many of today’s recognized Internet marketing experts spent 6 – 10 years building their businesses to the point that they are at today. They basically built a brand in their niche. With technological changes, and an increase in the number of people in the niche, it is now possible to achieve what they did in a fraction of the time. Isn’t it more productive to spend time doing that than attacking people out of envy or resentment?

I define civility as interacting with others in a way that smoothes the interaction. Doesn’t it make more sense to do that. This would certainly seem to facilitate a greater number of interactions with positive outcomes. This logically generate a *great number* of productive
transactions. More transactions with more positive outcomes would therefore GROW your business.

Feel free to disagree with me on any of the points above. However, take a few minutes to observe the world as it really works and you’ll have to agree with at least some of the points. Consider them carefully and perhaps you too will find yourself behaving more civilly in cyberspace

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Willie Crawford consults with some of the most successful direct marketers on the Internet. Grab a copy of the somewhat controversial ebook that he considers required reading for all his clients at: http://WhyJerksWin.com

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